A group of 19 overseas students from Shanghai International Studies University take a trip to Wuyi Mountain in East China’s Fujian province from May 3 to 5. [Photo from WeChat account Study_in_SISU]

A group of 19 overseas students from Shanghai International Studies University set foot on a journey to East China's Wuyi Mountain, Fujian province from May 3 to 5.

Although it's a five-hour high-speed-railway journey from Shanghai to Fujian, the students' travel fatigue was totally washed away by the misty scenery, which many of them marveled at as if it were a Chinese landscape painting.

A Yixiantian, which in Chinese means a sliver of the sky seen through a narrow opening, delighted the students as they followed the rays of light shining between the rocks.

On a bamboo raft floating down the Jiuqu Stream, the students, traveling in a picture-book world, were intoxicated by the riverside landscape.

The river took them eventually to a tea center, where they learned some interesting connections between Chinese characters and tea. For example, the character of tea (茶), separated into different strokes, can be read as the number 108, and hence elderly Chinese celebrate their 108th birthday as the "tea birthday".

Overseas students from Shanghai International Studies University experience traditional Chinese tea culture and sample the local specialty of Dahongpao tea, a famous variety featuring rich and long-lasting aroma. [Photo from WeChat account Study_in_SISU]

Now docked in a world of ancient Chinese tea sets, the students were impressed by the ancestors' wisdom and skills, as some of the sets were still useable.

While their raft waited they took time for a traditional tea competition, and had a taste of Dahongpao tea, a local specialty famed for its distinctive and long-lasting aroma.

Although it had been a short journey to the east, the students found it very pleasant and rewarding. Wuyi Mountain and the Jiuqu Stream had given them a unique escape from the city into nature and part of China's ancient culture.

Overseas students from Shanghai International Studies University ride a bamboo raft on the Jiuqu Stream, totally enchanted. [Photo from WeChat account Study_in_SISU]